Spain seals its ticket to EURO 2024

Spain seals its ticket to EURO 2024 in Oslo

A goal from Gavi gives a long-suffering victory against Haaland's Norway

MADRID, 15 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish soccer team beat Norway (0-1) this Sunday to mathematically certify its presence in the next Euro 2024, with two games to play in the qualifying phase within Group A, holding off a rival that He gave a lot of problems risking his chances in Oslo.

A goal from Gavi tipped the balance, with a five-minute VAR review judging a possible offside by the FC Barcelona player himself and Álvaro Morata. The Atlético player got rid of that after having fallen into the advanced position that he has been avoiding in a great start to the season, when at 20 minutes he took away a goal from his team that would have entered the rival's own goal.

Spain, which will be in its eighth consecutive EURO - sixteenth major event in a row - took advantage of the option of finishing the job, waiting to play for first place with Scotland, but had to leave everything in defense against a fairly well controlled Haaland , plus the movements of Martin Odegaard and Antonio Nusa.

Spain had a tough nut to crack, which they already felt in Malaga in the first leg with the important addition of Haaland. The Manchester City striker was not in that match, but this time he delivered like a Spanish nightmare. De la Fuente's team had several moments of ball control, searching for the opponent's back, changes of orientation and playing inside with a quick pass.

There weren't many occasions that came out of all that. The clearest one was celebrated by the visiting team, that goal after 20 minutes by Morata, who should not have pushed because it would have been Stefan Strandberg's own goal. Upon touching the ball, the Atlético de Madrid player went offside and the VAR warned.

Then it was Norway's time, with a couple of corner kicks in a row after having had different dangerous exits. Haaland was especially forgiving on a poorly cleared ball by Fran García, but he was a headache getting balls down and distributing play when his teammates came out.

A shot from afar by Carvajal and another by Rodrigo was how a Spain that was quite stretched until the half-time whistle ended up trying its luck. As he did with good results against Scotland, De la Fuente moved the bench, bringing on Mikel Oyarzabal and David García for Le Normand in yellow. Laporte soon saw another warning in the restart as a result of the battle.

The Real winger had it as soon as the second half started, in another phase of Spanish control that led to Gavi's 0-1 in the 49th minute, with a lot of suspense after several rejections and positions on the limit. Stale Solbakken did not hesitate to put in artillery with Nusa and Sorloth, while the 'Red' found Fabián on the inside.

Spain had its chances with the Norwegian step forward, with balls that reached a Ferran who was not successful. His place was occupied for the final stretch by debutant Alfonso Pedraza, who entered the list for Oslo after the losses of Nico Williams and Alejandro Balde. The Villarreal player tried his luck as soon as he entered, with a shot into the side of the net, but Spain had to defend itself.

The three-time European champion did not have peace of mind and the Nordic team looked for a Nusa team that had already revolutionized its team three days ago against Cyprus. The one who didn't appear in the end was Haaland, or he didn't know how to find his team, even though he came with his newly recovered sense of smell.

--RESULT: NORWAY, 0 - SPAIN, 1. (0-0, at halftime).

NORWAY: Newland; Ryerson, Strandberg (Sorloth, min.77), Ostigard, Meling; Berg (Thorstvedt, min.58), Berge, Aursnes (Ajer, min.77), Bobb (Nusa, min.58), Odegaard y Haaland.

SPAIN: Unai Simón; Carvajal, Le Normand (David García, rest), Laporte, Fran García; Rodrigo, Gavi (Sancet, min.79), Fabián Ruiz, Ferran Torres (Pedraza, min.72), Morata (Joselu, min.89) and Ansu Fati (Oyarzabal, rest).

0 - 1, min.49, Gavi.

--REFEREE: Tobias Stieler (GER). He cautioned Bobb (min.31) and Ryerson (min.40) for Norway. And to Le Normand (min.30), Laporte (min.56), Morata (min.61) and Rodri (min.86) in Spain.

--ESTADIUM: Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.